Sunday, January 14, 2018

The Nasher Museum is proud to present the first exhibition in the United States devoted to the luminous and meticulously rendered paintings of Italian artist Carlo Dolci (1616–1687). The most important Florentine painter of the 17th century, Dolci was revered by Florence’s leading patrons, including the powerful Medici family. Best known for his half-length and single-figure devotional paintings, Dolci was also a gifted painter of altarpieces and portraits and a highly accomplished draughtsman. Although his paintings were avidly acquired by those on the Grand Tour and conspicuously collected by eager Americans in the 19th century, his critical fortune has since waned. This exhibition places Dolci’s work within larger historical, religious, social, cultural and literary contexts and seeks to revive his reputation and bring his work back to the public’s attention. This exhibition will include major loans from institutions such as the Louvre in Paris,the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the Detroit Institute of Arts and Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

The Medici’s Painter is organized by the Davis Museum at Wellesley College and curated by Eve Straussman-Pflanzer, recently named head of the European art department and Elizabeth and Allan Shelden Curator of European paintings at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The exhibition is on view at the Davis Museum at Wellesley February 8 – July 9, 2017, and will travel to the Nasher Museum this fall.

A catalogue, published by the Davis Museum and Yale University Press, will have contributions by early modern scholars Francesca Baldassari,Edward Goldberg, Scott Nethersole, Lisa Goldenberg Stoppato and Eve Straussman-Pflanzer.

Last chance to see the special ticketed exhibition The Medici’s Painter: Carlo Dolci and 17th-Century Florence.
Special end-of-exhibition event: Contemporary Artist Series talk at 3 p.m. Burk Uzzle, the youngest photographer ever hired by Life magazine, will give a talk and demonstration on light, shadow and composition, inspired by the work of Carlo Dolci. This talk is free and open to all, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the North Carolina Arts Council.